Rekindle
by lil mutt face grl
Summary: After high school Rizzo left without a word and moved to an unknown place. What happens when eight years later a familiar stranger appears? T for strong language.


Eight years. She hadn't seen him in eight years and of all places they had to be in the same shopping mart getting groceries. His hair had changes with the times and he no longer wore it in typical greaser fashion. Instead it was shorter and greased back. If she hadn't known him, Betty would have thought him to be a businessman by the noir suit he wore. She looked at his fairly empty basket and then down at her own practically overflowing one. This would be the perfect time to check out and not end up waiting online together.

Betty briskly walked towards the register, but was cut short by a small, scratchy voice. "Excuse me, do you think you could help me, deary?"

"Um…sure. What is it that you need?" Betty glanced down the isle, hopeful that the figure from her past would disappear.

The old woman smiled wide before pointing to the top shelf, "Just some flour dear."

Betty grasped the bag and lowered it into the woman's grasp and received thanks in return. With her good deed down, Betty finished her trek to the register. Flashing the cashier a smile, she placed the items down on the counter and waited, foot tapping, for the girl to finish ringing her up.

"That will be five dollars Miss."

Mumbling to herself, Betty took out the correct change. The price of a meal sure had gone up! Of course it's not as if she didn't have all the money in the world at her finger tips, but it still irked her at the increase of price tags. "Thank you."

Taking up the two paper bags, she nearly cursed at the sight before her. Right behind her in line stood the lithe figure that still haunted her dreams. His eyes were trained on her face and she knew there would be no escaping him; there was a spark that indicated he recognized her.

"Oh…hey Kenickie." Shit, she hated awkward meetings.

He placed his items on the counter before replying, "Hey. How ya been Betty?"

Her heart shuddered at the use of her first name and the closed off look he had about himself. "Pretty good, how about you?"

"Not bad I supposed, I started my own company."

Nodding slowly she tried to dissect the meaning behind his words. Was there a reason he mentioned being the founder of a company or was that all he'd really been up to in these past years? "Wow, that's great. Well, I've got to get going. I have a job to go to. See you around maybe."

She turned about-face and marched for the door, determined in fact to never see him again. Luck wasn't on her side however. Just as she made it to the parking lot a hand touched her shoulder. Damn him!

"Betty wait…" She halted. "I was just wondering if we could go get a cup of coffee or something."

Shit. "I…um, well do you mind if going to my place first so I can put these groceries away."

"I'll follow."

Double shit. She hopped in her car and placed the grocery bags in the passenger seat before pulling out. Kenickie was on her tail and she couldn't help but feel her eyes drawn to the rear view mirror. She lived just around the corner from the store. Once they were there Kenickie helped her carry the paper bags into the house.

"Thanks." Betty projected as she began putting the items away.

Kenickie stood watching her, "So is all this yours?"

"Oh yeah, I've been able to secure a pretty good income I guess."

"That's great." He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. It was here that he inspected the decorating. No framed pictures anywhere to be seen and the house overall seemed rather bare.

"Can I get you anything?" Betty asked from the doorway with a glass of water in hand.

"Oh no, I'm fine. Can I ask what it is that you do?"

Betty felt her hand crawl from the back of her neck and into the soft curls that she'd allowed to grow longer. Actually, she hadn't wanted to, her agent had though. He'd said that she looked more presentable that way. She disagreed.

"I model for Coco Channel."

The deep laughter that followed her statement had startled the tall woman. "Why is that so funny?"

Kenickie stopped laughing immediately, "No, no don't take that the wrong way. You're absolutely stunning and it's no wonder you're a model. I just never imagined my cold, sarcastic Rizzo would be flouncing around in high fashion."

Her vision whirled for a second and a knot form in her stomach, "Oh."

"Hey, listen I don't mean to get serious or ruin the new beginning or nothing…but what happened…?" The rest of the question refused to budge past his lips. He hadn't wanted to say it anyway. Didn't really want to remember showing up at her house only to find out that she'd moved out of her parents place and into the city.

The knot tightened and she found that she could no longer look at his chiseled jaw line or his oceanic eyes. "I'm sorry Kenickie. I should have told you I was leaving."

"But why?" He hand shot up to the bridge of his nose. "I mean why leave at all?"

"Can't we talk about something else?" Her lungs had refused to function properly and it felt as if she could no longer breathe.

"No, don't you think after leaving me high and dry, you owe me an explanation?"

He was mad, she could tell. "I do, but I don't know what to say or how to say it."

"What? So you left for no reason?"

"No…I…"

"You what?!" He'd shouted, then sighed before taking a seat on the small couch. "…sorry."

"No, I deserve it."

"You don't, I just…I just don't understand why?"

Betty closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, "Let's go for a ride, Kenickie."

"Sure thing, kiddo."

They sat in silence for the bulk of the journey, but as Betty rounded a corner she glanced at Kenickie before quickly averting her eyes. "I can't say I've lived a sin-free life Kenickie…I can't say I haven't lied to you. I was pregnant in high school and I did have a kid, but there was no way you or I could support a child. So I gave her up for adoption..."

He was silent, with wide eyes and an open mouth. Betty wished for a second that she'd never told him, kept her little sin a secret. When he looked at her there were tears in his eyes, a sight she'd never seen before.

"Oh, Kenick…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you."

"No, you should have…you should have done it the day you knew for sure. I would have been there for you Betty, I would have helped you with everything. We could have done it, raised a kid together."

She shook her head, "We would have been lost."

"We had our parents for guidance."

"We would have been poor."

"I would have gotten another job."

"We would have struggled."

"Dammit Betty! Life is a struggle, that's part of it. You deal with a bunch of shit so that the god stuff feels even better." His fist came crashing down upon the dashboard.

"I'm sorry. I just thought it was the right thing to do." Now she was crying.

"How was that the right thing to do?!"

"I don't know! Okay, I don't know…all I knew was that you'd told me you loved me. I didn't want to ruin that or make you think I was trying to get you to marry me because I was pregnant. So I took myself away so that you'd never know."

He ran a hand through his slick hair, "Dammit Betty, what the hell were you thinking?! We could have had a life together by now, a child together. All you ended up doing was hurting everyone; me and the crew back home."

They rounded another corner, but Betty had slowed down to a crawl. "Second house on the right."

On the lawn was a family with three children. All blonde, but one. A beautiful eight year old with dark hair that bounced from side to side as she played with her sister. The smile on her face spoke of pure happiness and was matched only by the mother who tossed a ball to the girl.

"She's happy, Kenickie." Betty drove past the house and continued down the road with familiarity.

The man to her right had tears streaming down his face and was busy trying to wipe them away. He had seen bits of himself in the child and even more of Betty. "What about you, Betty? Are you happy?"

"With what I've done? Yes. She's been given so much more than either of us could have given her."

"No I meant are you happy. In general."

"Well my career's not all that bad and I have a few good friends. I suppose life's not what I always thought it'd be, but I'm not displeased."

"Betty," He turned and ground holes in her eyes, "are you happy?"

She didn't answer; couldn't as it were. Saying it, even thinking it, would make it all the more real. Would cause her to break down. They stayed silent for the rest of the ride back to her house. Once back they sat in the car until Betty felt she could no longer handle it, "I'll go get your groceries."

"I'll come."

Inside the house they made their way to the kitchen in search of Kenickies brown bag. Betty turned toward him once they were both in the kitchen, "I'm really sorry Kenickie. I was young and stupid."

"I know."

Then he advanced on her and grasped her with one hand on her back and the other guiding her lips to meet his. She didn't resist, couldn't it she wanted to. Her body had craved this moment for years, for his arms to encircle her frame and pull her near. When he pulled away she reeled him back in and they stayed like this for longer than either had anticipated.

"Betty, I love you. I always have, I always will."

Heart stammering she melted in his embrace, "I love you too, Kenickie…I really do."

"But you really have to work on your communication skills."

Betty pulled back, "Please, like you're one to talk."


End file.
